My stomach sinks at the realization that once again Jessika will never have that experience, and I’ll never get to see her belly grow with my child.
All my thoughts of never being a father vanish when Jessika walks back out in a black string bikini, I can’t take it anymore. My cock twitches at the thought of her, bound to the bed, spread wide for me, a ball gag in her mouth. I groan, adjusting myself under the table before I charge her, throwing her over my shoulder. Slapping her ass when she squeals to put her down.
“See yourselves out,” I call behind me to our guests who we left laughing behind us.
Right at this moment, I don’t give a shit that I can’t put a baby in her. I will have plenty of fun trying.
I’ll give her the ring burning a hole in my pocket later.
Epilogue
Alessandro
2.5 months later
“Dammit, Jessika. Let’s go. We’re going to be late for our flight,” I say from the bedroom door.
“I’m coming. I’m coming,” she calls out, as she runs from the ensuite, her hands full with various makeup items. She dumps those in her suitcase before wiping her palms down the legs of her jeans and looking around the floor before running into the walk-in closet. Hanger's screech on the metal as she shoves each piece of clothing aside in her haste to look for the item she wants.
“If you had packed last night like I said, we’d already be on our way to the airport.” I grin, crossing my arms and leaning a shoulder against the door frame.
Her hair is thrown up into a messy bun, her t-shirt is riding up revealing a hint of her toned stomach. She looks flustered and hot as hell, and if we weren’t already running late for our flight to Italy, I would bend her over the bed, rip her jeans off and…
“I’m ready. Let’s go,” she says, pushing past me, pulling her suitcase behind her.
As soon as we get into the car and the driver takes off, her phone rings, mine pinging with a message a second later.
“You’re kidding! When? How long ago?” I hear Jessika say besides me.
Braxton: Klara’s gone into labor. Get your ass to the hospital.
I chuckle and lean forward to tell the driver the new plan. So much for our Italy vacation. I reply to Braxton’s message, and then lean back in my seat, fingering the box in my pocket while Jessika finishes her conversation.
“That was Adrienne. Klara just went into labor,” she says, grinning.
“Braxton texted me. I already told the driver to head there and canceled our flights.”
The smile drops from her face almost as fast as it appeared. “Oh, Alessandro. I’m so sorry. You were really looking forward to this trip.”
“Hey.” I grip her chin, forcing her mouth to mine. “Family first, yeah?” I say, pulling away from the kiss.
“Yeah,” she says, her eyes still glossed over after the kiss. I laugh, pulling her into my side and relaxing back into the leather of the seat. It’s going to be a long day.
***
Jessika
Seven hours after Alessandro and I made it to the hospital, Klara gave birth to a healthy baby girl. Seven. Hours. Seven. That’s not including how long she was in labor before we arrived at the hospital.
I can’t wrap my head around how tiny the little baby in my arms is. She already has a head full of the lightest blonde hair I’ve ever seen, and I’m almost sure that when she opens her eyes, they’ll be blue just like her momma’s. Although, I’ve been told that a baby’s hair and eye color will usually – but not always – darken as they get older. So, who knows. Maybe when she grows up, she’ll have dark hair like her daddy’s but still have her momma’s light eyes. I wonder what our kids would’ve looked like if I was able to have them, and Alessandro and I ever decide to take that step. Would they have my midnight black hair and green eyes, or his grey eyes? I don’t even know what color his hair used to be when he was younger. Would the boys have grown up to be big and strong like their dad? Would the girls have taken after me? Would we raise them -no matter their gender- to always believe in themselves and their abilities. Would we even be good parents? I mean, neither of us had good examples growing up. I stop rocking in the chair, realizing that I was just thinking of Alessandro and I as parents.
Too soon. It’s too soon. Right?
“How’s she doing?” Klara asks, waddling back through the room after having used the bathroom.
“She’s good. Sleeping.”
Braxton and Alessandro follow in behind her. Braxton immediately going to help Klara back into bed, and Alessandro coming to sit beside me, placing a coffee on the window sill behind us.
When Antonio walks in, Klara smiles looking at each of us before turning to her husband. A silent communication passing between them before they both turn to us. Braxton clears his throat. Klara reaches out for her baby girl, I comply, placing her back in her momma’s arms.
“Since you’re all here, we’d like to talk to you about something,” Braxton starts, his voice serious, frown lines appearing across his forehead.
Klara laughs. “We’d like for you to be Godparents.”
I’m pretty sure everyone in the room stops breathing. I know I do. Then all at once, or one by one, I’m really not sure we all break into smiles.
“Fuck, yes,” Antonio says, earning a glare from Braxton. “Hey, gotta get it out now before she gets older and starts repeating everything we say.”
Klara shakes her head, use to Antonio’s outbursts. Then turns to us. “What do you say, you two?”
I turn to look at Alessandro, surprised to find that he’s already looking at me. But where I thought I’d find uncertainty and dread, there is none. Instead, what stares back at me is a wealth of undying love and affection. Alessandro grins, placing a lingering kiss on my forehead before turning back to Klara.
“We’d be honored,” he replies for the both of us.
THE END
Bonus Scene
“Brax?” Klara’s small voice and arms wrapping around me from behind pull me out of the dream-like state I found myself in. Staring down at our daughter asleep in her crib still doesn’t seem real, and yet there she is. A tiny human being asleep atop sheets of lilac and teal, her tiny hands balled into fists. My girl is going to be a fighter. Klara said all babies sleep like that, but I’m sticking with my theory.
I never thought it was possible to love anything as much or more than I love Klara, but as soon as I held my daughter in my arms, looked into eyes as pale blue as her mother’s, I knew right then and there that not only was it possible, but it was happening to me. It had happened to me. Then her tiny fingers curled around one of mine, and suddenly I was a grown man who melted at the sight, who’s cold heart thawed. She was only a few days old, but she already had me wrapped around her tiny finger.
“Come to bed, Braxton. She’s finally asleep, leave her be,” Klara whispers, running her soft hands over my back and shoulders, stopping at my biceps.
“I was just checking on her, Mia Bella.”
Truth be told, I couldn’t sleep. I found myself unconsciously standing over her crib beside our bed just to make sure that she was still breathing, that she was real. I had heard horror stories of babies dying in their sleep only to be found in the morning by grief-stricken parents. Well, not my daughter. I’ll stay up all night to watch her if I have to.
“And you’ve done so every hour since we brought her home. Braxton,” she says, moving to curl into my side, “she’s fine. She’s going to be fine. She has you as a father after all.” She places a hand on my chest and grins up at me.
“She’s never going to be allowed to date. I’ll kill any motherfucker who lays a hand on her,” I growl, not even sure where the thought came from but knowing it was true nonetheless. No one will be good enough for my daughter, and if anyone thought I was protective over Klara, they haven’t seen anything yet. I’ll be doubly protective over our daughter.
Klara sighs as we both stare down at our daughter sleeping pea
cefully. “You can’t protect her forever, Braxton.”
“Wanna bet? She’ll be more protected than the Queen of England.”
“Brax,” Klara starts, but I silence her with a kiss. I was done talking. My daughter would not be leaving this house or my sight without a guard to watch over her.
“C’mon.” I wrap an arm around Klara’s shoulders and turn us away from the crib. “She’ll be awake soon, and you need sleep.” I place a chaste kiss on the top of Klara’s head, looking over my shoulder at our sleeping daughter one last time before following my wife back to our bed.
The thought hits me like a ton of bricks. I’m a father. I’m responsible for that life in there. I was the Don of the mafia, I was the most feared man in all of eastern Canada. Grown men piss their pants when they come face to face with me. There is very little that I fear, but that small human somehow has the ability to have my stomach twisted up in knots, my anxiety at an all-time high, and my protective instincts on high alert.
Liliana De Luca. My lily. My daughter.
Acknowledgements
My family and friends thank you for always supporting me
Victoria and Lauren, our chats always make me giggle and have a way of giving me that extra motivation I need to keep going.
Nicole, I can’t thank you enough for all that you do for me, and for kicking my butt when I’m on social media rather than writing haha.
My reader group, A.J.’s Naughty Angels, you guys are amazing.
To the readers I hope you enjoyed the conclusion to Jessika and Alessandro’s story. But don’t worry, you’ll be seeing them again throughout the series.
About the Author
You can take the girl out of the ocean, but you cannot take the ocean out of the girl. A.J believes that describes her to a T. She practically grew up on a beach in Cape Town, South Africa until her family immigrated to Canada. However, the ocean still has a way of relaxing her. If she can’t get to the water, then a long drive with the music blaring will work just fine.
She wears her heart on her sleeve and is a self-proclaimed hopeless romantic who believes that everyone deserves their happily ever after. A.J. lives in BC, Canada with her husband. When she’s not writing, she’s reading. She loves the NFL and drinks way too much coffee.
If you enjoyed reading Deadly Intentions, please leave a review on your favorite book retailer and/or Goodreads.
Connect with A.J.
FACEBOOK: facebook.com/adanielsauthor
FACEBOOK READER GROUP: A.J.’S NAUGHTY ANGELS
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